C   H    525   17B 


E 

199 

B56 

1910 

Main 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

BEQUEST 

OF 
ANITA  D.  S.  BLAKE 


THE   BATTLE  OF  LAKE  GEORGE 

(SEPT.  8,  1755)  AND  THE  MEN 

WHO  WON   IT 

By  HENRY  T.  BLAKE 


S.OAN  STACK 


-      , 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  GEORGE  (SEPT.  8,   1755) 
AND  THE  MEN  WHO  WON  IT. 

By  HENRY  T.  BLAKE. 
[Read  December  20,  1909.] 


At  the  southern  end  of  Lake  George  there  stands  a  monu 
ment  which  was  erected  in  1903  by  the  New  York  Society 
of  Colonial  Wars  to  commemorate  one  of  the  most  desperate 
battles  and  important  victories  in  our  colonial  history.  The 
monument  consists  of  a  massive  granite  pedestal  surmounted 
by  two  life-size  figures  in  bronze  which  represent  a  colonial 
military  officer  in  conference  with  an  Indian  chief,  and  the 
principal  inscription  on  the  pedestal  reads  as  follows: 

1903 

THE  SOCIETY  OF  COLONIAL  WARS  ERECTED  THIS  MONUMENT  TO  COMMEMO 
RATE  THE  VICTORY  OF  THE  COLONIAL  FORCES  UNDER  GENERAL  WlLLIAM 

JOHNSON  AND  THEIR  MOHAWK  ALLIES  UNDER  CHIEF  HENDRICK  OVER  THE 
FRENCH  REGULARS  COMMANDED  BY  BARON  DIESKAU  WITH  THEIR  CANADIAN 
AND  INDIAN  ALLIES. 

The  impression  which  this  inscription  suggests  to  the  ordinary 
reader  is  that  both  Johnson  and  Hendrick  were  in  command 
during  the  battle  and  that  the  victory  was  gained  under  their 
leadership.  Neither  of  these  inferences  is  correct.  Chief 
Hendrick  had  been  killed  several  hours  before  the  battle  was 
fought  and  several  miles  distant  from  its  locality.  Johnson 
had  been  wounded  at  the  very  commencement  of  the  action 
and  retired  to  his  tent,  leaving  his  second  in  command  to  man 
age  the  battle  and  he  alone  conducted  it  to  its  successful  result. 
These  are  the  undisputed  facts  of  history.  Moreover,  it  is 
universally  agreed  that  Johnson's  gross  military  neglect  in 
making  no  preparations  for  the  attack  almost  caused  a  defeat, 


684 


110  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  GEORGE 

and  that  his  equally  censurable  refusal  to  permit  a  pursuit  of  the 
routed  enemy  rendered  the  victory  incomplete  and  valueless. 
All  authorities  concur  in  these  points,  and  they  also  agree  that 
the  real  heroes  of  the  day  were:  First,  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Whiting  of  New  Haven,  Conn.,  who  in  the  preliminary  morning 
fight  after  the  death  of  Colonel  Williams  and  Chief  Hendrick 
took  command  of  their  panic-stricken  followers  and  not  only 
saved  them  from  destruction  but  incidentally  the  rest  of  John 
son's  army  also ;  and,  Second,  Gen.  Phineas  Lyman  of  Suffield, 
Conn.,  to  whom,  as  already  stated,  Johnson  turned  over  the 
command  almost  at  the  outset  of  the  battle  and  who  per 
sonally  directed  it  for  more  than  five  hours  thereafter  till  it 
ended  in  victory. 

My  subject,  therefore,  possesses  a  local  interest  for  us,  not 
only  as  sons  of  Connecticut  but  also  as  citizens  of  New  Haven. 
Thousands  of  visitors  from  our  State  and  hundreds  from  our 
near  vicinity  annually  visit  the  beautiful  and  historic  region 
where  the  monument  referred  to  is  situated,  and  others  will 
do  so  down  to  the  end  of  time,  to  most  of  whom  the  battle 
it  commemorates  is  either  entirely  unknown  or  is  dim  and 
vague  as  a  prehistoric  legend.  Not  only  on  this,  but  on  general 
grounds  it  devolves  upon  this,  as  on  all  other  Historic  Associa 
tions,  to  protest  against  misleading  public  records  or  inscrip 
tions  which  tend  to  perpetuate  injustice  toward  heroes  of  the 
past,  whose  names  are  already  almost  forgotten.  For  these 
reasons  I  have  devoted  the  paper  of  this  evening  to  an  account 
of  "The  Battle  of  Lake  George  and  the  Men  who  Won  it." 

The  three  personages  with  whom  our  story  will  principally 
deal  are  Gen.  (afterwards  Sir)  William  Johnson,  Gen.  Phineas 
Lyman  and  Lieut.  Col.  Nathan  Whiting ;  and  it  will  be  proper 
to  begin  it  with  some  account  of  the  previous  history  of  these 
three  individuals. 

Sir  William  Johnson  (to  give  him  prematurely  the  title  by 
which  he  is  generally  known)  was  born  in  Ireland  and  came 
to  this  country  in  IT 3 5  at  the  age  of  twenty,  to  manage  the 
large  landed  estates  of  his  uncle,  Admiral  Johnson,  in  the 
Mohawk  Valley.  For  this  purpose  and  also  for  the  purpose 


AND    THE    MEN    WHO    WON    IT.  Ill 

of  trading  on  his  own  account  he  established  himself  on  the 
edge  of  the  vast  Indian  territory  which  then  extended  indefi 
nitely  toward  the  north,  south,  and  west  of  the  continent.  Being 
shrewd  and  ambitious  and  possessing  the  genial  adaptability 
of  his  race  to  all  conditions  of  life,  and  to  all  sorts  of  men, 
he  neglected  no  method  of  ingratiating  himself  with  his  savage 
neighbors  and  of  gaining  their  respect  and  confidence.  Accord 
ingly  he  observed  strict  honesty  and  firmness  in  his  dealings 
with  them,  kept  open  house  for  them  at  all  times,  and  often 
lived  with  them  in  their  wigwams,  where  he  wore  their  garb, 
greased  and  painted  his  face  after  their  fashion,  and  in  whoop 
ing,  yelling,  dancing  and  devouring  roast  dog  became  a  recog 
nized  champion.  By  these  and  other  accomplishments  he  so 
won  their  hearts  that  he  was  formally  adopted  into  the  Mohawk 
tribe  and  accompanied  them  as  a  member,  greased,  painted 
and  befeathered,  to  an  important  conference  with  the  whites 
at  Albany.  Owing  to  his  influence  with  the  Indians  he  was 
appointed,  in  1750,  by  the  Colonial  government  of  New  York, 
a  member  of  the  Governor's  Council,  which  involved  a  residence 
for  a  considerable  part  of  the  year  in  the  City  of  New  York. 

There  he  mingled  with  the  best  social  circles,  which  doubt 
less  conduced  to  amenity  and  polish  in  his  manners;  there 
also  he  became  intimately  identified  with  New  York  politics., 
which  were  as  bitter  and  strenuous  then  as  now,  and  which  did 
not  then  any  more  than  now  conduce  to  the  purity  or  mag 
nanimity  of  a  politician's  personal  character. 

In  1755,  when  war  was  declared  between  England  and 
France,  a  colonial  movement  was  planned  to  capture  Crown 
Point  on  Lake  Champlain,  then  in  possession  of  the  French. 
In  this  expedition  the  Colonies  of  New  York,  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut  agreed  to  unite,  and  Johnson  was  commissioned 
by  each  of  them  a  Major  General  to  be  in  command  of  their 
combined  forces.  This  appointment  was  made,  not  on  account 
of  his  military  reputation,  for  up  to  that  time  he  had  had  no 
experience  as  a  soldier ;  but  partly  on  account  of  the  influence 
it  was  likely  to  have  in  holding  the  New  York  Indians  to  the 
English  side,  and  partly  to  the  supposition  that  no  one  else 


112  THE    BATTLE    OF    LAKE    GEORGE 

could  be  put  in  the  general  command  without  exciting  local 
jealousy.  For  both  these  reasons  the  appointment  was  judicious 
and  attended  with  good  results.  Through  Johnson's  efforts 
the  Mohawks  agreed  to  fight  on  the  English  side,  and  most 
of  them  afterwards  did  so,  though  others,  and  all  the  tribes 
near  Canada,  allied  themselves  with  the  French. 

In  connection  with  this  appointment  of  Johnson  as  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  of  the  Provincial  forces  for  the  proposed 
expedition,  the  three  Colonies  also  united  in  appointing  Phineas 
Lyman  of  Connecticut  to  be  second  in  command.  Like  John 
son,  Lyman  had  had  no  previous  military  experience  except 
as  captain  of  a  militia  company  in  Suffield,  and  his  selection 
was  doubtless  due  not  only  to  his  prominence  as  a  citizen 
but  to  a  recognition  of  those  abilities  and  soldierly  qualities 
which  were  afterwards  displayed  in  a  distinguished  military 
career.  He  was  born  in  Durham,  Conn.,  in  1716.  He  grad 
uated  at  Yale  College  in  1738  and  married  into  a  prominent 
Massachusetts  family,  his  wife  being  an  aunt  of  Timothy 
Dwight,  who  was  afterwards  President  of  Yale  College.  After 
graduation  he  became  a  lawyer  and  settled  in  Suffield,  which, 
at  that  time,  through  an  error  in  the  laying  out  of  the  Colony's 
boundary  line,  was  included  in  Massachusetts,  but  was  after 
wards,  through  his  efforts,  conceded  to  Connecticut  where 
it  belonged.  He  was  for  several  years  a  member  of  the  Con 
necticut  General  Assembly;  at  first  in  the  lower  house  and 
afterwards  in  the  upper  branch,  and  his  law  practice  is  said 
to  have  been  the  largest  in  Connecticut.  This  practice  General 
Lyman  relinquished  immediately  after  his  military  appoint 
ment,  and  proceeded  to  Albany,  which  had  been  selected  as 
the  rendezvous  for  all  the  troops  and  supplies  for  the  proposed 
expedition. 

The  third  one  of  the  persons  with  whom  we  are  now  prin 
cipally  concerned  was  Col.  Nathan  Whiting,  who  was  born  in 
Windham,  Conn.,  but  had  resided  from  boyhood  in  New  Haven, 
being  connected  with  the  family  of  President  Clap  of  Yale 
College.  He  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1743,  and  in 
1745  he  took  part  in  the  expedition  to  Louisburg,  where  he 


AND    THE    MEN    WHO    WON    IT. 


113 


so  distinguished  himself  that  he  was  promoted  to  a  lieutenancy 
in  the  British  army.  After  his  return  he  engaged  in  business 
in  New  Haven,  but  when  war  broke  out  in  1755  his  martial 
ardor  revived  and  he  accepted  a  Colonial  commission  as  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  with  the  command  of  the  Second  Connecticut 
Regiment,  which  was  raised  for  the  movement  on  Crown  Point. 
The  regiment,  which  was  made  up  partly  of  volunteers  and 
partly  of  drafted  militiamen,  was  assembled  at  New  Haven, 
and  on  May  25,  1755,  being  about  to  depart  for  Crown  Point, 
it  marched,  with  Colonel  Whiting  at  its  head,  into  Rev.  Mr. 
Noyes'  meeting  house  on  the  Green  to  hear  a  discourse  by  the 
Rev.  Isaac  Stiles  on  "The  Character  and  Duty  of  Souldiers." 
Some  copies  of  the  sermon  still  survive  and  show  that  the 
eloquent  Divine  did  full  justice  to  his  subject  and  the  occasion. 
He  adjured  his  hearers  to  "file  off  the  rust  of  their  firelocks, 
that  exquisitely  contrived  and  tremendous  instrument  of  death,'' 
also  "to  attend  to  the  several  beats  of  that  great  warlike  instru 
ment  the  drum,  and  to  the  language  of  that  shrill  high-sound 
ing  trumpet,  that  noble,  reviving  and  animating  sound" ;  he 
depicted  their  foes  as  "lying  slain  on  the  battle  field  with 
battered  arms,  bleeding  sculls  and  cloven  trunks,"  "while  the 
good  souldiers  of  Jesus  Christ  were  all  the  while  shining  with 
all  the  beauty  and  luster  that  inward  sanctity  and  outward 
charms  lend  to  the  hero's  look."  Fired  with  enthusiasm  by 
these  encouraging  prospects,  the  youthful  warriors  departed  for 
the  seat  of  war  and  in  due  time  arrived  at  Albany,  where, 
by  the  middle  of  July,  about  3,000  provincials  were  encamped. 
A  large  part  of  the  Mohawk  tribe  had  also  arrived,  warriors, 
squaws  and  children,  among  whom  Major  General  Johnson, 
with  painted  face,  danced  the  war  dance,  howled  the  war 
whoop,  and  with  his  sword  cut  off  the  first  slice  of  the  ox  that 
had  been  roasted  for  their  entertainment. 

After  various  delays,  a  part  of  the  motley  army,  under  com 
mand  of  General  Lyman,  moved  about  twenty-five  miles  up  the 
Hudson  River  to  "The  Great  Carrying  Place,"  from  which 
there  was  a  trail  to  Wood  Creek,  a  feeder  of  Lake  Champlain, 
on  which  Crown  Point  is  situated.  Here  Lyman  proceeded  to 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  GEORGE 

build  a  fortified  storehouse,  which  the  soldiers  called  "Fort 
Lyman,"  but  which  Johnson,  with  a  politician's  instinct,  after 
wards  called  "Fort  Edward,"  as  a  compliment  to  the  then 
Duke  of  York,  and  this  name  still  clings  to  the  important 
village  which  has  since  grown  up  at  that  place. 

On  the  12th  of  August,  Johnson  arrived  with  the  rest  of  the 
militia  and  about  250  Mohawks  out  of  the  multitude  who  had 
been  feasting  and  dancing  at  Colonial  expense  for  a  month  at 
Albany.  These  were  led  by  their  principal  sachem,  Hendrick, 
commonly  called  King  Hendrick,  an  aged  chief  of  great 
renown  both  as  warrior  and  orator,  who  had  been  to  England 
twice,  and  wore  a  gorgeous  uniform  which  had  been  presented 
to  him  by  King  George  in  person. 

After  consultation,  it  was  decided  not  to  approach  Crown 
Point  by  way  of  Wood  Creek  but  through  Lake  George;  and 
to  reach  Lake  George,  fourteen  miles  distant,  it  was  necessary 
to  cut  a  road  through  the  forest  for  the  transportation  of 
artillery,  boats  and  stores.  This  task  was  accomplished  in 
about  a  fortnight  and  on  August  28,  Johnson  with  3,400  men, 
including  Indians,  arrived  and  encamped  at  the  southern  end 
of  the  lake.  Six  days  later,  September  3,  Lyman  joined  him 
with  1,500  militiamen,  500  having  been  left  to  occupy  Fort 
Lyman.  Some  of  the  cannon,  bateaux  and  other  war  material 
had  also  reached  the  lake  and  the  rest  was  slowly  following  in 
wagons  along  the  newly-cut  road.  Not  expecting  any  enemy, 
all  these  equipments  and  supplies  as  they  arrived  at  Lake 
George  were  deposited  along  the  shore  of  the  lake  in  prepara 
tion  for  embarking  them  when  everything  needed  should  have 
come  up.  No  action  was  taken  to  fortify  the  camp,  though 
the  erection  of  a  permanent  fort  (afterwards  called  Fort  Wil 
liam  Henry)  was  begun  with  a  view  to  establishing  a  future 
military  post  at  that  point. 

Meantime,  the  enemy  in  Canada  had  been  neither  asleep 
nor  idle.  While  Johnson's  army  had  been  slowly  cutting  their 
forest  road  to  Lake  George,  Baron  Dieskau,  the  commander-in- 
chief  of  all  the  French  armies  in  America,  a  soldier  of  great 
distinction  and  activity,  whose  motto  was  "Audacity  Wins," 
had  advanced  from  Crown  Point  to  Ticonderoga  with  a  force 


AND    THE    MEN    WHO    WON    IT.  115 

of  1,500  men  consisting  of  1,200  Canadians  and  Indians  and 
300  French  Eegulars.  On  the  2d  of  September  he  had  left 
Ticonderoga  by  way  of  Lake  Champlain  and  Wood  Creek,  and 
was  now  (September  4th)  on  the  other  side  of  the  ridge  which 
separates  Lake  George  from  Wood  Creek  pushing  his  way 
southward  up  that  stream,  his  objective  point  being  Fort 
Lyman.  This  post  he  expected  to  surprise  and  carry  by 
assault,  thus  getting  in  the  rear  of  Johnson,  capturing  the 
greater  part  of  his  stores  and  munitions  and  cutting  him  off 
from  all  future  supplies  and  reinforcements.  This  he  could 
easily  have  done,  as  Fort  Lyman  was  held  by  only  500  raw 
militiamen  and  his  approach  was  entirely  unsuspected  by  the 
garrison  as  well  as  by  Johnson  himself.  On  the  evening  of 
September  7,  Johnson -first  learned  from  a  scout  that  a  large 
body  of  men  had  been  discovered  about  four  miles  above  Fort 
Lyman  and  marching  toward  it.  He  immediately  despatched 
a  messenger  with  a  letter  warning  the  garrison  of  its  danger 
and  called  a  council  of  war  to  consider  the  situation.  His  own 
suggestion  was  to  send  500  men  the  next  morning  to  reinforce 
Fort  Lyman,  and  500  more  across  the  country  toward  Wood 
Creek  in  order  to  seize  Dieskau's  boats  and  cut  him  off  from 
a  retreat.  Old  King  Hendrick,  however,  repelled  this  proposal 
with  an  Indian's  mode  of  argument  by  taking  two  sticks  and 
showing  that  they  could  be  more  easily  broken  when  separated 
than  when  combined.  Relinquishing  this  plan,  therefore, 
Johnson  decided  to  send  1,200  men  the  next  morning  in  a 
single  body  to  Fort  Lyman  to  cooperate  with  the  garrison  in 
its  defence.  The  old  chief  still  demurred,  declaring  that  if 
they  were  sent  to  be  killed  there  would  be  too  many,  but  if 
to  fight  there  would  be  too  few.  Nevertheless,  this  plan  was 
adhered  to  and  an  order  was  issued  that  1,000  men  from  the 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  regiments,  under  command  of 
Col.  Ephraim  Williams  and  Lieut.  Col.  Nathan  Whiting,  and 
200  Indians  commanded  by  Hendrick,  should  march  to  the  aid 
of  Fort  Lyman  early  next  morning. 

While  these  discussions  were  going  on  in  Johnson's  camp, 
his  messenger  to  Fort  Lyman  had  been  killed  by  Dieskau's 
scouts  and  the  letter  of  warning  found  in  his  pocket.  At 


116  THE    BATTLE    OF    LAKE    GEOKGE 

about  the  same  time,  two  of  Johnson's  wagoners  had  been  cap 
tured  on  their  way  to  Lake  George,  and  from  them  it  was 
learned  that  Fort  Lyman  was  defended  by  cannon,  while  John 
son's  camp  was  unprotected  even  by  breastworks,  and  that  his 
artillery  was  lying  unmounted  on  the  shore  of  the  lake.  No 
sooner  were  these  facts  known  to  the  Canadians  and  Indians 
than  they  protested  with  one  voice  against  Dieskau's  plan  of 
assaulting  Fort  Lyman  the  next  morning  and  insisted  on 
making  the  camp  at  Lake  George  the  object  of  attack.  The 
ground  of  this  preference  was  the  invincible  repugnance  of 
militiamen  and  Indians  to  face  artillery,  and  they  could  neither 
be  cajoled  nor  reasoned  out  of  such  an  excusable  prejudice. 
In  vain  did  Dieskau  argue,  threaten  and  implore ;  it  was  Lake 
George  or  nothing,  and  in  the  end  he  consented,  with  infinite 
disgust,  to  march  against  Johnson's  camp  in  the  morning. 

Soon  after  eight  o'clock,  therefore,  on  the  morning  of  Sep 
tember  8,  two  hostile  armies  were  marching  towards  each  other, 
one  south,  the  other  north,  along  Johnson's  road.  As  the  Cana 
dian  force  was  the  first  to  start,  we  will  follow  their  movement 
first.  Moving  from  a  point  near  Glens  Falls,  three  or  four 
miles  north  of  Fort  Lyman,  they  had  advanced  about  five 
miles  when  they  reached  a  narrow  ravine  between  two  steep, 
wood-covered  heights,  at  the  bottom  of  which  ran  the  road  and 
alongside  of  it  a  little  trickling  brook.  The  general  appear 
ance  of  the  locality  is  almost  unchanged  to-day,  though  a 
railroad  now  runs  through  the  bottom  of  the  ravine  and  a  high 
way  and  trolley  track  skirt  its  western  side.  At  this  point 
the  Indian  scouts  announced  that  a  large  force  was  approach 
ing  from  the  direction  of  Johnson's  camp  and  Dieskau  imme 
diately  prepared  an  ambuscade  to  receive  it.  The  Indians 
and  Canadians  were  distributed  for  half  a  mile  among  the 
woods  on  the  two  sides  of  the  ravine  and  the  Regulars  were 
posted  across  it  at  the  lower  end;  thus  forming  a  cul-de-sac 
of  savages  and  militiamen,  who  then  in  complete  concealment 
and  perfect  silence  awaited  the  approach  of  their  unsuspecting 
enemy.  Strict  orders  had  been  given  not  to  fire  a  gun  until 
the  English  should  become  completely  enveloped  in  the  trap. 


AND    THE    MEN    WHO    WON    IT.  117 

The  party  from  the  camp  had  started  a  little  after  eight 
o'clock,  the  Mohawks  being  in  front,  headed  by  Old  Hendrick, 
who  was  so  heavy  and  infirm  that  he  chose  to  ride  a  horse 
which  had  been  lent  to  him  by  Johnson.  Then  followed  Colonel 
Williams  with  the  Massachusetts  men;  and  Colonel  Whiting 
with  the  Connecticut  Militia  brought  up  the  rear.  The  whole 
column,  however,  was  somewhat  promiscuously  intermingled 
and  proceeded  with  surprising  recklessness  in  a  helter-skelter 
fashion  without  the  usual  precaution  of  sending  scouts  at 
least  a  mile  in  advance.  Thus  proceeding,  the  head  of  the 
column  reached  the  ravine  and  had  advanced  some  distance 
into  it  when  Old  Hendrick' s  olfactories  recognized  a  familiar 
odor  and  he  called  out  "I  smell  Indians'7 !  Just  then  came  the 
crack  of  a  gun  from  among  the  bushes  and  in  an  instant  the  air 
was  alive  with  horrible  yells,  as  if  ten  thousand  devils  had 
broken  loose  mingled  with  the  din  of  musketry,  which  flashed 
and  smoked  and  rained  deadly  bullets  on  the  bewildered, 
staggering  and  falling  provincials.  As  Dieskau  described  it 
later  in  his  official  report,  "the  head  of  the  column  was  doubled 
up  like  a  pack  of  cards."  At  the  first  fire  Old  Hendrick  fell 
dead  from  his  horse,  and  the  Mohawks  fled  howling  to  the 
rear,  spreading  confusion  and  panic  through  the  whole  body. 
Colonel  Williams  sprang  to  the  top  of  a  large  boulder  to  rally 
his  men  and  was  immediately  shot  through  the  head.  And 
now  the  French  regulars  advanced,  pouring  murderous  volleys 
into  the  huddled  mass  of  militiamen,  who  crowded  on  each 
other  in  frantic  efforts  to  escape  the  withering  fire.  To  most 
of  the  Yankee  boys  it  was  their  first  experience  of  war,  and 
if  they  thought  of  Parson  Stiles'  sermon,  with  its  allusions  to 
"battered  arms,  cloven  sculls  and  severed  bodies"  the  applica 
tion  to  the  case  in  hand  was  less  promotive  of  "the  hero's 
look"  than  a  longing  for  home  and  mother. 

The  situation  is  thus  described  by  Parkman:  "There  was  a 
panic ;  some  fled  outright  and  the  whole  column  recoiled.  The 
van  now  became  the  rear  and  all  the  force  of  the  enemy  rushed 
upon  it,  shouting  and  screeching.  There  was  a  moment  of  total 
confusion,  but  a  part  of  Williams'  regiment  rallied  under 


118  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  GEORGE 

command  of  Whiting  and  covered  the  retreat,  fighting  behind 
trees  like  Indians  and  firing  and  falling  back  by  turns,  bravely 
aided  by  some  Indians  and  by  a  detachment  which  Johnson 
sent  to  their  aid."  As  this  detachment  was  not  sent  out  until 
after  the  firing  had  been  for  some  time  heard  at  the  camp  to 
be  approaching,  thus  giving  notice  of  a  defeat,  and  then  had 
two  or  three  miles  to  cover  before  it  reached  the  scene  of 
action,  it  is  evident  that  Whiting  must  have  had  the  matter 
well  in  hand  before  it  came  up.  A  New  York  historian  says : 
"After  the  death  of  Colonel  Williams  the  command  devolved 
on  Lieutenant  Colonel  Whiting  of  Connecticut,  who,  with 
signal  ability,  conducted  a  most  successful  retreat.  On  account 
of  the  spirited  resistance  made  by  Colonel  Whiting  the  enemy 
were  an  hour  and  a  half  driving  the  fugitives  before  them.* 
Governor  Livingston  of  E"ew  York,  in  a  letter  written  shortly 
afterwards,  says :  "The  retreat  was  very  judiciously  conducted, 
after  the  death  of  Colonel  Williams,  by  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Whiting  of  Connecticut,  an  officer  who  gained  much  applause 
at  the  reduction  of  Louisburg."  Johnson,  in  his  official  report, 
says  (without  mentioning  Whiting's  name) :  "The  whole  party 
that  escaped  came  in,  in  large  bodies,"  (a  practical  acknowl 
edgment  that  the  retreat  had  been  well  conducted,)  and  he  also 
concedes  that  the  delay  which  had  been  effected  was  of  vital 
importance  by  giving  time  to  put  the  camp  in  a  posture  of 
defence.  Baron  Dieskau,  after  his  capture,  expressed  his 
admiration  of  Whiting's  achievement,  declaring  that  a  retreat 
was  never  better  managed;  and  Vaudreuil,  the  French  Gov 
ernor  General  of  Canada,  in  a  communication  to  his  own 
government,  admits  that  Whiting  baffled  an  essential  part  of 
Dieskau's  plan.  This  was  to  drive  the  routed  provincials  in 
confusion  back  upon  an  unprotected  camp,  and  to  rush  in  with 
them,  spreading  the  panic,  in  which  case  he  felt  sure  that  his 
disciplined  regulars,  supporting  the  wild  onslaught  of  his 
Canadian  and  Indian  allies,  would  make  victory  certain. 

That  this  plan,  but  for  Whiting's  leadership,  would  have 
been  realized  and  would  have  succeeded,  there  can  be  little 

*  N.  Y.  State  Hist.  Assoc.  Proceedings,  Vol.  2,  p.  18. 


AND    THE    MEN    WHO    WON    IT. 


119 


doubt.  It  was  not  until  the  firing  was  heard  to  be  approach 
ing  the  camp,  thus  evincing  that  "the  bloody  morning  scout" 
(as  it  was  long  afterwards  called)  had  been  defeated,  that  any 
vigorous  preparation  was  made  for  protection  by  any  kind  of 
barricade.  The  time  was  short,  indeed,  less  than  an  hour  and 
a  half,  for  getting  ready,  but  life  and  death  were  at  stake,  and 
in  those  few  minutes  the  men  worked  in  a  frenzy.  Trees 
were  felled  and  laid  end  to  end,  bateaux,  wagons,  and  other 
materials  brought  up  from  the  lake  and  piled  in  heaps,  and 
three  or  four  heavy  cannon  dragged  behind  the  barrier,  where 
they  were  hurriedly  mounted  and  placed  in  position.  The 
fugitives  were  already  swarming  in.  The  more  orderly  bodies 
followed  quickly  after,  and  were  rapidly  assigned  places  among 
those  who  had  been  previously  disposed  at  different  points  for 
the  defence.  Then  and  before  the  arrangements  were  fully 
completed,  the  savage  pursuers  came  whooping  and  yelling 
through  the  forest,  brandishing  their  weapons  and  making 
straight  for  the  slight  barricade,  already  exulting  in  an  assured 
victory  and  massacre.  They  were  checked  for  a  moment  by  a 
volley  of  musketry,  and  immediately  after  the  unexpected  roar 
of  artillery  and  the  crashing  of  cannon  balls  and  grapeshot 
through  the  trees  around  them  sent  them  scattering  in  con 
sternation  through  the  forest,  where  behind  such  shelter  as 
they  could  get  they  pushed  as  near  to  the  barricade  as  they 
dared  and  shot  at  the  defenders  as  they  could  get  opportunity. 
And  now  the  French  regulars  were  quickly  seen  advancing  in 
solid  columns  down  the  road,  their  white  uniforms  and  glitter 
ing  bayonets  showing  through  the  trees  in  what  seemed  to  be 
an  interminable  array.  The  inexperienced  militia  behind  the 
barricade  grew  uneasy,  but  the  officers,  sword  in  hand,  threat 
ened  to  cut  down  any  man  who  should  desert  his  post. 

Dieskau  felt  sure  that  if  he  could  hold  his  forces  together 
for  a  combined  assault  he  could  carry  the  breastwork;  but  the 
Canadians  and  Indians  were  scattered  through  the  woods,  each 
man  fighting  on  his  own  account  and  could  not  be  collected  or 
controlled.  With  his  regulars,  therefore,  and  such  few  others 
as  he  could  gather,  he  made  charge  after  charge  against  tho 


120  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  GEORGE 

defences,  now  upon  this  side  and  now  upon  that  but  only  to 
be  repulsed  at  every  point.  The  fighting  spirit  had  begun  to 
be  developed  in  the  defenders  and  the  battle  became  one  of 
promiscuous  musketry  for  the  most  part,  though  the  artillery 
was  also  vigorously  served,  now  scattering  a  band  of  Indians 
who  had  collected  in  an  exposed  position,  and  now  pouring 
balls  and  grapeshot  at  random  through  the  forest,  the  crashing 
of  which  among  the  trees  effectually  encouraged  the  savages 
to  keep  at  a  respectful  distance. 

In  the  very  beginning  of  the  fight  Johnson  had  been  hit 
by  a  musket  ball  in  the  fleshy  part  of  his  thigh,  but  was  able 
to  walk  to  his  tent,  where  he  remained  throughout  the  day, 
taking  no  further  part  in  the  action.  General  Lyman  being 
thus  left  in  command  directed  practically  the  entire  course  of 
the  battle,  and  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Holden  of  the  ISTew  York 
Historical  Society  "conducted  what  is  considered  by  all  experts 
to  be  one  of  the  most  important  Indian  fights  in  history  to  a 
successful  termination."  To  quote  again  from  Parkman: 
"General  Lyman  took  command,  and  it  is  a  marvel  that  he 
escaped  alive,  for  he  was  for  four  hours  in  the  heat  of  the  fire, 
directing  and  animating  his  men."  "It  was  the  most  awful 
day  my  eyes  ever  beheld,"  wrote  Surgeon  Williams  to  his  wife ; 
"there  seemed  to  be  nothing  but  thunder  and  lightning  and 
pillars  of  smoke." 

Governor  Livingston  in  the  letter  already  quoted  says: 
"Numbers  of  eye  witnesses  declare  that  they  saw  Lyman  fight 
ing  like  a  lion  in  the  hottest  of  the  battle — not  to  mention  a 
gentleman  of  undoubted  veracity  to  whom  General  Johnson 
two  days  after  the  action  acknowledged  that  to  Lyman  was 
chiefly  to  be  ascribed  the  honor  of  the  victory."  Whether 
such  an  admission  was  correctly  attributed  to  Johnson  or  not 
there  is  but  one  voice  among  historians  on  the  subject  and 
that  is  that  Lyman,  and  Lyman  alone,  fought  the  battle  as 
the  officer  in  command,  and  that  to  him  alone  as  the  directing 
spirit  is  due  the  credit  for  its  result. 

Towards  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  fight  began  to 
slacken.  The  Canadians  and  Indians  had  lost  their  interest, 


AND    THE    MEN    WHO    WON    IT. 


121 


as  well  as  most  of  their  ammunition,  and  were  generally  acting 
on  an  informal  vote  to  adjourn.  The  regulars  had  been  half 
annihilated ;  their  ammunition  also  was  exhausted  and  further 
efforts  were  hopeless.  The  provincials  quickly  perceived  the 
situation  and  jumping  over  the  breastwork  with  shouts  pur 
sued  the  retreating  enemy.  Dieskau  was  found  on  the  ground 
partly  resting  against  a  tree,  having  been  three  times  shot 
through  the  legs  and  body  and  left  on  the  field  by  his  own 
positive  order,  declaring  that  that  was  as  good,  a  place  to  die 
as  anywhere.  He  was  carried  to  Johnson's  tent,  where  he 
was  courteously  received  and  his  wounds  attended  to  by  the 
surgeons.  It  was  with  some  difficulty  that  he  was  prevented 
from  being  murdered  by  the  Mohawks,  who  were  enraged  at 
the  losses  they  had  suffered  in  the  morning's  scout,  and  espe 
cially  by  the  death  of  Hendrick.  As  soon  as  his  wounds  would 
permit  he  was  sent  to  Albany,  and  thence  to  New  York,  and 
afterwards  to  England,  where  he  remained  on  parole  to  the 
end  of  the  war.  He  then  returned  to  France  and  died  there 
in  1767. 

The  enemy  having  been  routed  it  only  remained  to  complete 
the  victory  by  a  vigorous  pursuit  in  force,  in  order  to  cut 
them  off  from  their  boats  and  thus  prevent  their  escape  back 
to  Canada.  This  course  was,  however,  forbidden  by  Johnson, 
though  urged  by  Lyman  with  unusual  warmth,  and  for  his 
refusal  he  was  censured  by  his  contemporaries  as  well  as  since 
by  all  later  critics.  But  what  he  disallowed  to  Lyman  Avas 
partially  accomplished  without  his  knowledge  on  the  same  day 
by  a  party  from  the  garrison  at  Fort  Lyman.  These  having 
heard  the  firing  in  the  direction  of  the  lake  had  sallied  out  to 
discover  the  cause  of  it,  and  proceeding  cautiously  through  the 
forest  late  in  the  afternoon  had  come  upon  some  300  Canadians 
and  Indians,  skulkers  and  fugitives  from  Dieskau's  army,  near 
a  small  pond  by  the  side  of  the  road  and  just  beyond  the  scene 
of  the  morning's  ambush.  These  they  suddenly  attacked, 
though  themselves  much  inferior  in  number,  and  defeated  them 
with  great  loss  after  a  stubborn  resistance.  The  bodies  of  the 
slain  were  afterwards  thrown  into  the  pond  and  it  bears  the 


122  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  GEORGE 

appellation  of  "Bloody  Pond"  to  this  day.  The  scattered 
fugitives  from  this  and  the  preceding  conflicts  of  the  day 
made  their  way  as  hest  they  could  to  the  boats  which  they  had 
left  at  Wood  Creek  and  returned  through  Lake  Champlain, 
a  worn-out  and  half-starved  remnant,  to  Crown  Point. 

Johnson  excused  his  refusal  to  permit  a  pursuit  on  the  ground 
that  he  expected  another  attack,  Dieskau  having  cunningly 
informed  him  that  there  was  a  large  French  force  in  reserve; 
his  object  no  doubt  being  to  give  his  routed  followers  a  chance 
to  escape.  It  seems  incredible  that  Johnson  should  have  given 
any  credence  to  so  flimsy  a  deception  in  face  of  the  fact  that 
Dieskau  had  allowed  his  troops  to  be  defeated  and  half  extermi 
nated,  and  himself  to  be  captured,  without  calling  up  his  pre 
tended  reserves,  and  this  excuse  must  be  dismissed  as  insincere. 
Johnson  also  declared  that  his  men  were  fatigued  and  disor 
ganized  by  the  events  of  the  day  and  were  not  in  a  condition 
to  pursue ;  but  as  he  had  been  confined  to  his  tent  throughout 
the  battle  he  could  have  known  very  little  on  this  point  in  com 
parison  with  Lyman,  who  thought  differently. 

In  view  of  these  considerations  and  his  subsequent  conduct 
all  writers  agree  that  Johnson  was  actuated  by  jealousy  of 
Lyman  who  had  already  been  the  chief  figure  of  the  engage 
ment,  and  by  the  idea  that  if  any  more  glory  were  achieved 
that  day  it  would  be  difficult  to  monopolize  it  for  himself.  As 
Shakespeare  puts  it — 

"Who  in  the  wars  does  more  than  his  captain  can 
Becomes  his  captain's  captain;    and  ambition 
The  soldier's  virtue,  rather  makes  choice  of  loss 
Than  gain  which  darkens  him." 

[Ant.  and  Cleo.,  Act  III,  Sc.  1.] 

However  this  may  be  it  is  certain  that  he  promptly  determined 
to  secure  for  himself  all  the  glory  of  the  victory  and  also  all 
its  substantial  reward,  for  his  official  reports  not  only  omit  all 
mention  of  Lyman  but  clearly  imply  that  the  whole  battle  had 
been  fought  under  his  own  personal  supervision  and  direction. 
In  them  he  says  not  a  word  about  his  early  retirement  from  the 
fight  but  circumstantially  recounts  all  the  details  of  its  progress 


AND    THE    MEN    WHO    WON    IT. 


123 


in  the  manner  of  an  eye-witness,  commending  by  name  the 
English  officer  Captain  Eyre,  "who,"  he  says,  "served  the 
artillery  through  the  whole  engagement  in  a  manner  very  advan 
tageous  to  his  character  and  those  concerned  in  the  management 
of  it."  After  giving  other  particulars,  he  adds :  "About  four 
o'clock  our  men  and  Indians  jumped  over  the  breastwork,  pur 
sued  the  enemy,  slaughtered  numbers,  and  took  several  prison 
ers,  including  General  Dieskau,  who  was  brought  into  my  tent 
just  as  a  wound  I  had  received  was  dressed." 

As  Johnson's  wound  had  been  dressed  at  least  six  hours 
before  Dieskau  was  brought  into  his  tent,  it  is  impossible  to 
acquit  him  of  the  deliberate  intent  to  convey  a  false  impression 
when  he  thus  connects  the  time  of  receiving  it  with  the  very 
end  of  the  battle.  Nor  is  this  conviction  weakened  when  we 
read  a  semi-official  despatch  written  the  next  day  by  his  military 
secretary,  Wraxall,  to  Governor  Delancey,  in  which  no  mention 
whatever  is  made  of  either  Lyman  or  Whiting,  and  he  says 
in  a  postscript,  "Our  general's  wound  pains  him;  he  begs 
his  salutations;  he  behaved  in  all  respects  worthy  his  station 
and  is  the  Idoll  of  the  Army." 

A  side  light  is  shed  on  the  animus  of  these  despatches  by  a 
fact  which  is  mentioned  by  Governor  Livingston  and  President 
Dwight.  This  is  that  there  existed  among  some  of  Johnson's 
officers  a  cabal  against  Lyman,  which  was  spreading  dis 
paraging  reports  of  his  conduct  during  the  battle;  reports  so 
obviously  false  and  malicious  and  so  completely  refuted  by 
overwhelming  testimony  that  they  seem  to  have  fallen  flat  at 
the  time,  and  to  have  been  never  heard  of  afterwards. 

On  September  16,  or  more  than  a  week  after  the  battle, 
Johnson  made  an  official  report  of  the  events  of  September  8 
to  the  Colonial  governors,  in  which  again  Lyman's  name  and 
services  are  completely  ignored.  In  connection  with  the  morn 
ing's  conflict  he  mentions  Lieutenant  Colonel  Whiting  as 
"commanding  one  division  of  the  scouting  party,"  but  makes 
no  allusion  to  his  management  of  the  retreat.  The  following 
passage,  however,  is  significant:  "The  enemy,"  he  says,  "did 
not  pursue  vigorously  or  our  slaughter  would  have  been  greater 


124  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  GEORGE 

and  perhaps  our  panic  fatal.  This  gave  us  time  to  recover 
and  make  dispositions  to  receive  the  approaching  enemy." 

The  statement  that  the  pursuit  was  not  vigorous  would  have 
been  repelled  by  Dieskau,  whose  motto  was  always  "Audacity 
Wins,"  and  who  had  certainly  pursued  as  vigorously  as  the 
resistance  led  by  Whiting  would  permit ;  but  notwithstanding 
this  misrepresentation  to  Whiting's  disparagement  the  acknowl 
edgment  clearly  appears  that  the  checking  of  the  pursuit  saved 
both  the  camp  and  the  army  from  destruction.  Considering 
that  the  report  was  being  made  to  those  Colonial  authorities 
who  were  especially  interested  in  Lyman  and  Whiting,  the 
studious  neglect  to  give  either  of  them  credit  for  the  slightest 
service  throughout  the  day  bespeaks  a  spirit  in  its  author  which 
was  anything  but  just,  generous  or  honorable. 

The  magnitude,  as  well  as  the  importance  of  the  victory  at 
Lake  George  was  greatly  overestimated,  not  only  by  the  public 
at  large  but  also  by  the  British  Government,  both  on  account 
of  the  depression  that  had  been  caused  by  Braddock's  defeat 
only  two  months  previously,  and  also  by  the  fact  that  it  was 
the  only  gleam  of  success  that  enlivened  the  English  cause  in 
the  Colonies  that  year.  Johnson's  reports,  therefore,  aroused 
great  enthusiasm  in  England,  and  he  was  hailed  as  a  conquer 
ing  hero  worthy  of  distinguished  honors  from  a  grateful  coun 
try.  Accordingly,  soon  after  its  receipt  in  London,  he  was 
created  a  Baronet  by  the  Crown,  and  Parliament  voted  him  a 
reward  of  £5,000.  Captain  Eyre,  the  only  officer  named  in  the 
report,  was  promoted  to  be  Major,  and  Wraxall,  whose  only 
apparent  military  achievements  were  to  accompany  Johnson 
when  he  walked  to  his  tent  soon  after  the  battle  commenced,  and 
to  call  him  "The  Idoll  of  the  Army"  when  it  was  over,  was 
given  a  Captain's  commission.  Lyman  and  Whiting  received 
nothing  except  the  applause  of  their  own  countrymen,  who 
speedily  learned  the  facts  and  placed  the  credit  for  the  victory 
where  it  belonged.  Their  example  has  been  followed  by  all 
historians.  The  'New  York  Society  of  Colonial  Wars  alone  has 
sanctioned  Johnson's  injustice  by  erecting  a  monument  which 
ascribes  to  him  alone  the  conduct  and  success  of  the  battle, 
and  consigns  Lyman  and  Whiting  to  permanent  oblivion. 


AND    THE    MEN    WHO    WON    IT.  125 

Johnson  took  no  step  forward  after  the  victory,  though 
strongly  urged  by  Lyman  to  seize  and  fortify  Ticonderoga, 
then  unoccupied,  but  continued  to  talk  about  advancing  on 
Crown  Point,  and  called  for  reinforcements  and  additional 
supplies  for  that  purpose.  These  were  sent  him  through  the 
months  of  September  and  October  and  into  November,  but 
during  all  that  period  his  army  of  more  than  4,000  men  lay 
inactive  except  for  the  work  they  did  in  erecting  Fort  William 
Henry.  Meantime  the  weather  was  growing  colder  and  the 
preliminary  storms  of  winter  became  more  frequent  and 
severe.  The  soldiers,  insufficiently  sheltered  and  clothed,  badly 
fed,  and  decimated  by  sickness,  were  all  the  time  on  the  verge 
of  mutiny  and  were  deserting  in  large  numbers.  Finally,  on 
November  27,  it  was  resolved  to  break  up  the  camp,  and  there 
upon,  a  few  men  being  left  to  garrison  the  half-finished  fort, 
the  rest  of  the  army  were  dismissed  to  their  homes. 

"The  expedition,"  says  Parkman,  "had  been  a  failure,  dis 
guised  under  an  incidental  success."  Vaudreuil,  the  Governor 
of  Canada,  presents  the  same  view  to  the  French  Government 
in  a  despatch  dated  October  3.  "M.  Dieskau's  campaign," 
he  says,  "though  not  so  successful  as  expected,  has  nevertheless 
intimidated  the  English  who  were  advancing  in  considerable 
force  to  attack  Fort  Frederick  (Crown  Point)  which  could  not 
resist  them."  If  this  statement  was  well  founded,  it  supplies 
a  strong  comment  on  Johnson's  inactivity  after  Dieskau's 
defeat,  for  it  indicates  that  had  his  army,  flushed  with  victory, 
been  pushed  rapidly  forward  to  Crown  Point  they  might  easily 
have  captured  the  post  and  ended  the  English  campaign  with 
complete  success.  The  actual  outcome  of  it  was  that  the  close 
of  the  year  found  the  French  established  at  Ticonderoga  in  a 
better  and  stronger  position  than  they  had  had  at  Crown  Point, 
and  fifteen  miles  nearer  to  the  English  settlements. 

As  this  paper  relates  not  merely  to  the  Battle  of  Lake  George, 
but  also  to  the  men  who  won  it,  it  will  properly  conclude  with 
a  brief  sketch  of  the  subsequent  lives  of  General  Lyman  and 
Colonel  Whiting.  But  before  dismissing  Sir  William  John 
son  from  consideration  it  is  only  just  to  say  that  his  career 


120  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  GEORGE 

after  the  Battle  of  Lake  George  developed  nothing  which 
reflects  discredit  on  his  military  capacity,  or  his  personal  honor. 
During  the  continuance  of  the  French  War  his  influence  with 
the  Indian  tribes  was  invaluable  to  the  Colonies,  and  his  efforts 
unceasing  to  maintain  friendly  relations  between  the  two 
parties  on  a  basis  of  justice  and  humanity.  He  was  engaged  in 
no  other  important  military  operations  till  175 9,  when  he  went 
with  a  band  of  900  Indians,  as  the  second  in  command,  under 
General  Prideaux,  on  an  expedition  against  Fort  Niagara,  and 
after  the  accidental  death  of  Prideaux  he  succeeded  to  the  chief 
command.  In  this  capacit^y  he  conducted  the  siege  of  the  fort 
with  vigor,  skill  and  courage.  He  fought  a  successful  battle 
against  a  French  relieving  force,  and  after  the  capture  of  the 
fort  firmly  protected  the  garrison  from  his  savage  allies.  He 
also,  with  his  Indians,  accompanied  Amherst  in  the  following 
year  to  Montreal  and  assisted  in  the  investment  and  capture 
of  that  last  stronghold  of  the  French  in  Canada.  This  was 
his  last  important  military  service,  but  his  influence  with  the 
Indian  tribes  of  New  York  and  Ohio  continued  to  be  bene 
ficially  exerted  till  the  close  of  his  life,  which  occurred  in  1774. 
As  an  important  factor  in  the  making  of  American  history  he 
will  always  occupy  a  prominent  and,  on  the  whole,  an  honorable 
place. 

As  already  stated,  notwithstanding  Johnson's  studious  con 
cealment  of  General  Lyman's  part  in  the  Battle  of  Lake  George, 
which  was  successful  so  far  as  the  British  government  was  con 
cerned,  the  true  story  was  well  known  throughout  the  Colonies, 
and  this  was  evinced  in  the  following  year  by  the  renewal  of 
his  commission  as  Major  General,  which  rank  he  continued 
to  hold  throughout  the  war.  He  was  also  repeatedly  entrusted 
with  important  commands  and  took  part  in  various  campaigns 
against  the  French  in  Canada.  In  1758  he  commanded  5,000 
Connecticut  troops  in  the  disastrous  attack  by  General  Aber- 
crombie  on  Fort  Ticonderoga,  where  he  was  among  the  fore 
most  assailants  and  was  with  Lord  Howe  when  he  fell.  Again 
in  1759,  at  the  head  of  4,000  men,  he  accompanied  Lord 
Amherst  in  his  successful  expedition  against  Ticonderoga  and 


AND    THE    MEN    WHO    WON    IT.  127 

Crown  Point,  and  in  1760  assisted  with  5,000  Connecticut 
troops  in  the  capture  of  Montreal.  In  IT 61  he  was  again  in 
Canada  in  command  of  2,300  Connecticut  soldiers,  helping 
to  complete  the  English  conquest  of  that  Province.  After 
hostilities  had  ceased  in  Canada  the  seat  of  war  was  removed 
to  the  West  Indies,  and  an  expedition  having  been  fitted  out 
to  capture  Havana,  Lyman  was  by  the  joint  action  of  all  the 
Colonies  placed  in  command  of  the  whole  Provincial  force 
of  10,000  men  which  accompanied  it.  The  expedition  sailed 
from  !N"ew  York  in  November,  1761,  and  in  cooperation  with 
another  fleet  and  army  sent  out  from  England,  struck  the  fin 
ishing  blow  of  the  war,  Havana  being  taken  and  several  French 
Islands  conquered  and  occupied  by  the  English  during  the  year 

1762.  This  was  the  last  of  Lyman's  military  experiences,  as 
the  war  was  ended  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris  in  February,  1763. 
Throughout  his  active  career  in  the  army  he  had  held  the  con 
fidence  not  only  of  the  public  but  of  his  brother  officers,  as 
a  man  of  superior  ability,  integrity  and  wisdom,  as  well  as 
of  military  skill,  but  unhappily,  this  confidence  was  the  indi 
rect  cause  of  the  disappointments  and  misfortunes  which  ruined 
his  future  life. 

After  the  conclusion  of  peace,  a  considerable  number  of  the 
officers  and  soldiers  who  had  served  in  the  Colonial  armies, 
formed  an  association  which  they  called  "The  Company  of 
Military  Adventurers/7  whose  purpose  was  to  secure  from  the 
British  government  a  grant  of  lands  in  the  new  western  terri 
tory  which  had  just  been  wrested  from  France  largely  through 
their  own  personal  efforts  and  often  (as  in  Lyman's  case)  at 
the  sacrifice  of  their  private  fortunes.  General  Lyman  was 
selected  by  this  organization  as  their  agent  to  proceed  to  Lon 
don,  and  there  prosecute  the  claims  and  objects  of  the  company. 

In  pursuance  of  this  appointment,  Lyman  relinquished  the 
idea  of  resuming  his  legal  practice  and  went  to  England  in 

1763,  where  for  eleven  long  years  he  pursued  a  weary  and 
discouraging  struggle  with  the  officials  in  power  to  obtain  their 
consent  to  the  reasonable  request  which  he  brought  to  their 
notice.     As  Dr.  Dwight  remarks,    "It  would  be  difficult  for 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  GEORGE 


a  man  of  common  sense  to  invent  a  reason  why  a  tract  of  land 
in  a  remote  wilderness,  scarcely  worth  a  cent  an  acre,  could 
be  grudged  to  any  body  of  men  who  were  willing  to  settle 
upon  it,"  and  especially  so  when  the  petitioners  were  a  body 
of  veterans  who  had  gained  the  victories  by  which  the  land 
was  obtained,  and  whose  occupation  of  it  would  be  important 
for  its  future  protection.  Nevertheless,  during  all  this  time 
Lyman'  s  appeals  were  met  with  indifference  and  treated  with 
neglect.  Appointments  were  made  only  to  be  forgotten,  and 
promises,  which  were  never  fulfilled.  Ashamed  to  return  home 
without  success,  he  lingered  on,  hoping  against  hope  and  striv 
ing  against  continuous  discouragement,  until,  as  Dr.  D  wight 
expresses  it,  ahe  experienced  to  its  full  extent  that  imbecility 
of  mind  which  a  crowd  of  irremediable  misfortunes,  a  state  of 
long-continued  anxious  suspense,  and  strong  feelings  of  degra 
dation  invariably  produce.  His  mind  lost  its  elasticity  and 
became  incapable  of  anything  beyond  a  seeming  effort."  And 
under  such  conditions  the  best  eleven  years  of  his  life  were 
frittered  away. 

At  length,  about  1774,  the  petition  in  some  form  or  other 
was  granted.  Still  General  Lyman,  apparently  unable  to  form 
new  resolutions,  failed  to  return  home.  His  wife,  distressed 
at  his  long  absence,  and  by  the  privations  which  his  family 
suffered  in  consequence,  then  sent  his  second  son  to  England 
to  bring  him  back.  The  appeal  was  successful  and  Lyman 
returned  in  1774,  bringing  the  grant  of  land  to  the  petitioners, 
and  for  himself  the  promise  of  an  annuity  of  £200  sterling. 
As  for  the  grant  of  land,  many  of  the  beneficiaries  were  dead 
and  others  too  old  to  avail  themselves  of  it.  The  storm  cloud 
of  the  Revolution  also  was  now  gathering  fast  and  the  younger 
part  of  his  generation  had  other  things  to  think  of  than  that 
of  settling  a  western  wilderness.  For  these  reasons  the  land 
grant  proved  practically  valueless  for  its  intended  purpose; 
and  as  for  his  personal  annuity,  the  speedy  outbreak  of  Colonial 
rebellion,  if  no  other  reason,  prevented  its  ever  being  paid. 

The  tract  of  land  in  question  was  situated  on  the  Mississippi 
River,  and  was  part  of  the  territory  then  known  as  West 


AND    THE    MEN    WHO    WON    IT.  129 

Florida.  It  included  the  present  site  of  Natchez,  where  a 
French  fort  had  been  built  and  afterwards  abandoned.  To 
this  malarious  and  fever-stricken  region  in  1775,  General 
Lyman,  then  a  broken-down  man  of  fifty-nine,  betook  himself 
by  a  thousand-miles'  journey  over  roadless  mountains  and 
bridgeless  rivers,  accompanied  by  a  few  companions,  among 
whom  was  his  eldest  son,  who  was  feeble  both  in  body  and  mind. 
The  son  died  soon  after  their  arrival  and  shortly  afterward  the 
worn-out  father  followed  him  to  the  grave.  "Few  persons," 
says  Dr.  Dwight,  "began  life  with  a  fairer  promise  of  pros 
perity  than  General  Lyman.  Few  are  born  and  educated  to 
brighter  hopes  than  those  cherished  by  his  children.  None 
within  the  limits  of  my  information  have  seen  those  hopes, 
prematurely  declining,  set  in  deeper  darkness.  For  a  con 
siderable  time  no  American  possessed  a  higher  or  more  exten 
sive  reputation ;  no  American  who  reads  this  subsequent  history 
will  regard  him  with  envy." 

This  allusion  to  the  happy  prospects  of  General  Lyman's 
family  in  early  life,  suggests  that  a  few  words  be  given  to 
their  pathetic  fate.  The  story  is  related  somewhat  circum 
stantially  by  Dr.  Dwight. 

General  Lyman's  second  son,  who  brought  his  father  home 
from  England,  accepted,  while  there,  a  lieutenant's  commis 
sion  in  the  British  army.  In  1775,  while  in  Suffield,  he  was 
ordered  to  join  his  regiment  in  Boston,  which  he  did  and  served 
on  the  British  side  till  1782.  It  was  probably  the  painful 
relations  with  their  neighbors  which  this  situation  brought  to 
the  family  in  Suffield  which  caused  Mrs.  Lyman,  in  1776,  to 
remove,  with  the  rest  of  her  children,  consisting  of  three  sons 
and  two  daughters,  to  West  Florida.  Her  elder  brother  accom 
panied  them  on  the  sad  and  toilsome  journey.  Within  a  few 
months  Mrs.  Lyman  and  her  brother  both  died.  The  children 
remained  in  the  country  till  1782,  when  the  settlement  was 
attacked  by  the  Spaniards.  The  little  colony  took  refuge  in 
the  old  fort  and  resisted  the  invaders  until  compelled  to  sur 
render  on  terms;  but  the  terms  were  at  once  outrageously 
violated.  In  desperation  the  victims  rose  upon  their  con- 


130  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  GEORGE 

querors  and  drove  them  from  the  settlement,  but  learning  soon 
afterward  that  a  larger  force  was  coming  up  the  river  to  punish 
them,  and  fearing  the  worst  of  cruelties,  the  whole  colony 
fled  to  the  wilderness,  aiming  to  reach  Savannah,  which  was 
then  in  possession  of  the  British.  On  their  way  they  endured 
innumerable  hardships  and  perils,  suffering  continually  from 
hunger,  thirst,  fatigue  and  sickness.  Once  they  were  cap 
tured  by  a  hostile  band  of  savages,  who  were  about  to  torture 
and  scalp  them,  when  they  were  miraculously  rescued  by 
the  intervention  and  address  of  a  friendly  negro;  but  those 
who  survived  the  terrible  journey  reached  Savannah  after 
wandering  a  distance  of  over  1,300  miles,  through  a  period  of 
150  days.  As  a  result  of  these  experiences  the  two  daughters 
died  at  Savannah.  The  three  sons  remained  there  until  the 
war  was  over  and  then  accompanied  the  departing  British 
troops.  One  of  them  was  afterwards  in  Suffield  for  a  short 
time  but  soon  disappeared,  and  what  finally  became  of  him 
and  his  two  brothers,  Dr.  Dwight,  although  they  were  his 
cousins,  was  never  able  to  learn. 

As  to  the  second  son,  he  continued  in  the  British  service 
till  1782.  At  that  time  nearly  torpid  with  grief  and  disap 
pointment  he  sold  his  commission,  but  collected  only  a  part 
of  the  purchase  money,  and  that  he  speedily  lost.  He  returned 
to  Suffield  penniless  and  almost  an  imbecile.  Friends  there 
endeavored  to  revive  his  courage  and  restore  his-  mental  bal 
ance,  but  in  spite  of  all  efforts  he  sank  into  listlessness  and 
unkempt  pauperism  and  in  this  condition  he  died.  Truly,  the 
comment  of  Dr.  Dwight  was  well  applied  when  he  called  his 
narrative  "The  History  of  an  Unhappy  Family." 

The  record  of  Colonel  Whiting  will  be  shorter  and  more 
cheerful.  As  we  have  seen,  he  held,  during  the  campaign  of 
1755,  the  rank  of  lieutenant  colonel  only,  but  the  next  year  the 
General  Assembly  voted  him  a  colonel's  commission,  with  its 
thanks,  for  the  skill,  courage  and  ability  which  ahe  had  dis 
played  at  the  Battle  of  Lake  George  and  on  other  occasions." 
He  took  part  in  all  the  subsequent  campaigns  of  the  war,  highly 
commended  by  both  British  and  Americans  as  an  officer  of 


AND    THE    MEN    WHO    WON    IT.  131 

uncommon  merit,  and  when  peace  returned  resumed  his  mer 
cantile  business  at  New  Haven.  In  1769  he  represented  New 
Haven  in  the  Lower  House  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  in 
1771  was  nominated  for  the  Upper  House,  to  which  he  would 
undoubtedly  have  been  elected  but  for  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  that  year  at  the  early  age  of  47. 

Dr.  Dwight  described  Colonel  Whiting  as  "an  exemplary 
professor  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  for  refined  and  dignified 
manners  and  nobleness  of  mind  rarely  excelled.''  And  Pro 
fessor  Kingsley  in  his  Centennial  Discourse  of  1838  speaks 
of  him  as  one  of  those  citizens  for  whom  New  Haven  had 
especial  reason  to  be  proud. 

He  was  buried  in  the  ancient  burial  ground  on  New  Haven 
Green,  but  where,  no  living  man  can  tell.  In  the  Grove  Street 
Cemetery  can  be  found  the  mutilated  fragment  of  a  time-worn 
slab,  leaning  against  the  tombstone  of  President  Clap,  in  whose 
family  Whiting's  boyhood  was  passed.  The  name  has  been 
broken  off,  but  the  inscription  which  remains  records  that  the 
deceased  died  in  "New  Haven,  full  of  Gospel  Hope,  April  9th 
An  Dom  1771.  Aet  47,"  and  the  stone  is  thus  identified  as 
having  once  marked  the  resting  place  of  Col.  Nathan  Whiting. 

And  thus  it  happens  that  Lyman  and  Whiting,  the  men  who 
won  the  Battle  of  Lake  George  together,  and  who  suffered  the 
same  injustice  in  connection  with  that  achievement,  and  who 
have  been  alike  ignored  in  the  only  structure  which  com 
memorates  the  victory  they  won,  are  alike  sharers  in  this  fate 
also,  that  they  both  rest  in  unknown  graves. 


